All posts tagged ‘Land of the Lost’

I grew up in the seventies when Saturday mornings belonged to kids. I’d wake up at the crack of dawn and run downstairs to turn on the TV just loud enough to hear, but not loud enough to wake my still sleeping parents. There were some wonderfully cheesy programs on Saturday mornings, but my favorite show, the one I’d never miss, was Land of the Lost.

First, it had a fantastic opening sequence, with an earthquake and then a little raft plummeting to it’s near doom. Second, it had a theme song that to this day, I can sing on cue. And lastly, it had Sleestaks, those creepy human-alien-lizard-things-in-rubber-suits-that-hissed. I hated the Sleestaks and they scared me so much that they gave me nightmares, but I still loved that show. At San Diego Comic-Con on Friday I attended a panel with the show’s creators, Sid and Marty Krofft, and I was star-struck.

Although Land of the Lost is not as highly-anticipated as some of theothermovies to get the 10 Things treatment, I thought enough of us might have fond memories of the Sid & Marty Krofft Saturday morning show from the 1970s to make it worthwhile. Plus, Will Ferrell. I saw it at a midnight screening in Hartford with three other people in the theater. Here’s a quick overview:

1. Will I like it?

This depends: Are you stoned, or likely to be when you watch the movie? It would probably help an adult. The movie has a few chuckles, but it has chosen a hard row to hoe: On the one hand, it’s raunchier than your average Saturday morning re-tread; on the other hand, Ferrell’s pretty restrained–so it’s not really raunchy enough to be genuinely funny.

2. Will my kids like it?

Older (10+) kids might well think it was funny, although if they’ve seen any other Will Ferrell vehicles, you might consider renting one of them and making popcorn at home.

3. How PG-13 is it?

There’s some language (mostly of the d**n and sh*t variety, although Ferrell does say “F*ck you” to Cha-Ka early on), and a recurring set of jokes involving the casual groping of Anna Friel’s breasts. You can also expect to have to explain what “tapping that” means. There’s a scene when Cha-Ka, Rick Marshall, and Will Stanton all get high. There’s not much outright violence, although there are some scenes that involve fleeing in terror from a thin-skinned T. rex.

Oh, and there’s the time the ice-cream truck driver gets eaten by a pack of hungry dinos, which small children will think is sadistic, and older kids will probably like. Mostly, though, this is the sort of PG-13 that will irritate you because your kids will repeat obnoxious bits, rather than the sort that will traumatize them in some way. (Said the dad who let his 5-yr-old see Transformers and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and most of Iron Man.)

4. Is it loud?

It’s louder than you might expect. It turns out the T. rex doesn’t have a dynamic vocal range, and so when it’s on the screen, it screams. A lot.

5. What’s the best time for a bathroom break?

This is a less-important question than usual. It’s not really a plot-driven movie, so you could go at any time and return without missing much. There’s also not any one scene that’s significantly scarier or dirtier or more violent than the others.

6. Do I need to sit through the credits for some sort of bonus movie at the end?

There is a 15-second, very predictable gag involving a dinosaur egg given to Matt Lauer. You could, in theory, stick around for it. (I mean, I did.) Also, the paper animation that’s the backdrop for the credits both recaps the movie and is more visually interesting than anything in it.

7. How does the movie explain time travel?

Tachyons. In our universe, tachyons are a hypothetical particle that travels faster than light. Although no evidence for them has ever been found, they might be understood as representing instability in certain kinds of quantum systems. As the Wikipedia entry wryly observes, “The word tachyon has become widely recognized to such an extent that it can impart a science-fictional “sound” even if the subject in question has no particular relation to superluminal travel.”

8. Are there any good trailers?

Yes. There’s a new trailer for 9, an expanded version of the Oscar-nominated (in 2005) short of the same name. It looks great. And while I think the movie’ll be dumber than a bag of hair, the 10-yr-old in me loves the G.I. Joe trailer.

9. This is, all things considered, a pretty negative overview. Can you suggest an alternative?

Has-been scientist Dr. Rick Marshall, sucked into one and spat back through time. Way back. Now, Marshall has no weapons, few skills and questionable smarts to survive in an alternate universe full of marauding dinosaurs and fantastic creatures from beyond our world—a place of spectacular sights and super-scaled comedy known as the Land of the Lost. Sucked alongside him for the adventure are crack-smart research assistant Holly (Anna Friel) and a redneck survivalist (Danny McBride) named Will. Chased by T. rex and stalked by painfully slow reptiles known as Sleestaks, Marshall, Will and Holly must rely on their only ally—a primate called Chaka (Jorma Taccone)—to navigate out of the hybrid dimension. Escape from this routine expedition gone awry and they’re heroes. Get stuck, and they’ll be permanent refugees in the Land of the Lost.

This week the promotional tour for Land of the Lost picks up a little bit of steam and puts it’s star right into the wild. Will Ferrell will be making a guest appearance on Man vs. Wild alongside host and ultimate tough guy Bear Gyrlls. As enjoyable as Man vs. Wild normally is, it’s going to be either more enjoyable or cringe worthy as Ferrell tags along with Bear on a trip to the Arctic Tundra of Sweden. I’m guessing that between his snarky jokes and side comments, Ferrell will be wishing he would have stayed at home. Below is a behind the scenes interview of Bear and Will’s experience together.